(Credit:
Fred Flare)
Inside all of us, there lives an inner creep just itching to get out and secretly take photos of unsuspecting members of the opposite sex. The secret book camera, offered here by Keith Carollo and Chris Bick of Fred Flare, definitely confirms that theory. The camera uses inexpensive 110 film and is the perfect size to stick in your backpack or Miley Cyrus-approved clutch purse.
You know what this camera reminds me of? That one scene in Troop Beverly Hills where shevillain Velda Plendor hides a camera inside the Girl Scouts book so Herman can spy on the tragically affluent Girl Scouts of Beverly Hills. Wait, what? You're not as self-deprecating as I am? OK, well I loved TBH and now I can finally live out my cinematic fantasies. Never mind that it's seafoam green and made to look like an antique toy for children--I just so happen to have $55 burning a hole in my apron. Patches?! We don't need no stinkin' patches!
Check out more pictures of the camera after the jump.
... Read moreIf you've ever sat in an Aeron chair, you know what real office comfort can be like. Plus, they're just great-looking pieces of furniture.
That's true whether you're talking about a real-life Aeron or an Aeron in the virtual world Second Life, where there are plenty of copycat chairs available for sale at reasonable prices.
But now, according to Wagner James Au over at the blog New World Notes, Aeron manufacturer Herman Miller has launched a store in Second Life and is attempting to address the issue of illegitimate knockoffs through an interesting two-pronged approach.
For a limited time, Herman Miller is offering SL residents free trade-ins on any fake Aerons--or on some of its other iconic products--for an authentic SL Aeron. If you don't have a fake, you can buy an in-world Aeron for a small price.
Herman Miller is attempting to address knockoffs of its famous Aeron chairs in 'Second Life.'
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)But the company is taking a much harder, albeit polite (so far) approach to the makers of the knockoffs.
"We've contacted those parties and informed them of our trade dress protections, copyrights and trademarks they are infringing, asking politely but firmly that they cease and desist," a Herman Miller spokesperson told Au. "Some have complied, others have countered with proposed partnerships and some have yet to respond."
It's an intriguing dynamic, all around. The trade-in offer is an innovative way to reach out to the SL population, which appreciates being reached out to, as well as a thoughtful way of doing business on the part of real-world companies. It helps that the company's SL products look good. If they didn't, the whole question would be moot, as people wouldn't buy them.
As for Herman Miller's cease-and-desist demands of the knockoff creators, the result is an open question.
There are all kinds of real-product knockoffs in Second Life and other virtual worlds. One legal case everyone was watching that might have provided an answer to the question of whether such activity was kosher, Marvel v. NCSoft, was settled before a judge or jury could make a determination. In that case, Marvel sued City of Heroes maker NCSoft because the game's players could make avatars that looked like famous comic book heroes like Spider-Man or The Hulk.
Many experts had predicted that Marvel would lose its suit, so the settlement disappointed those in the virtual-world community who are interested in intellectual property issues because it deprived everyone of a final answer to the question.
For its part, Second Life publisher Linden Lab allows rights holders to file Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notices in situations like the one Herman Miller is attempting to deal with.
But that process is slow, and Herman Miller is clearly trying to confront the situation head-on by attempting to scare those making Aeron knockoffs into compliance. Whether it will work is a question that remains to be answered, particularly because the burden of enforcing its IP rights would surely be huge if there are SL content creators who defy the company's demands.
For now, however, it's just interesting to see how Herman Miller is approaching the matter. My take is that the company is being smart. For now. We'll have to see what happens next.
(Credit:
Herman Miller)
How times have changed. At the height of the dot-com boom, one of the early symbols of egregious excess was Herman Miller's "Aeron" uber-chair, which often sold for more than $1,000 apiece. Although it still sells those chairs--which apparently haven't come down in price--the specialty furniture maker is now touting a very different kind of product that's far less visible. In fact, its effects are completely invisible.
The "C2," so far as we can tell from its product literature, is a fancy personal air conditioner and filter that goes for $280--or, in the words of Fareastgizmos, "enhances an individual's personal climate experience" with "air quality provided by its Greenguard-certified particulate air filter."
Whatever. We're just surprised that the designer, which puts so much emphasis on asthetics, would create something that looks so much like a salt shaker.
(Credit:
Herman Miller)
If there's one thing everyone agrees on, it's that we all need a better way to charge the multiplying electronic devices that run our lives. One of the more anticipated technologies in this department, for example, has been the "WildCharger" wireless recharging pad. Herman Miller, the office furnishing designer extraordinaire that gave us the "Aeron" chair, has apparently a concept similar to the WildCharger's and plans to use it in future desks.
The company has licensed a system called "eCoupled," which uses a magnetic field that can theoretically charge cell phones, music players, PDAs and other commonly used electronics, according to Reuters. Unlike the overpriced Aeron, which became something of an emblem of dot-com excess in the 1990s, products with this technology may actually be worth the money.
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